But when president Garfield died there was no president pro tempore of the senate and no speaker of the house; so that when vice-president Arthur became president, there was no one to succeed him in case of his disability.  It was then expected that congress would devise another plan of succession; but it did not.  When vice-president Hendricks died, there was again no president pro tempore of the senate or speaker of the house.  This recurrence of the danger within four years prompted congress to provide an order of succession less liable to accident than the one so long in use.  The succession was placed in the cabinet in the following order:  Secretary of state, secretary of the treasury, secretary of war, attorney-general, postmaster-general, secretary of the navy, and secretary of the interior.

When the vice-president or secretary becomes president, he serves for the remainder of the term.

One very important item in this connection the constitution leaves unprovided for, namely, who shall determine when “disability,” other than death, occurs or ceases?  Certainly the decision should not be left to those interested in the succession.  No official answer to this question has yet been given.

Clause 7.—­President’s Salary.

The president shall, at stated times, receive for his services a compensation[1] which shall be neither increased nor diminished during the period for which he shall have been elected,[2] and he shall not receive within that period any other emolument from the United States or any of them.[3]

[1] Otherwise a person of moderate means would be debarred from accepting the position, and the country might thereby be deprived of the services of some man of lofty character.

[2] Thus congress can neither bribe nor drive the president into doing anything which he may regard as unwise or wrong.  And on the other hand, the president has no temptation to try to “undermine the virtue” of congress for his own pecuniary benefit.

[3] This provision has the same purpose in view as the last.  “He is thus secured, in a great measure, against all sinister foreign influences.  And he must be lost to all just sense of high duties of his station, if he does not conduct himself with an exclusive devotion to the good of the whole people, unmindful at once of the blandishments of courtiers, who seek to deceive him, and of partizans, who aim to govern him, and thus accomplish their own selfish purposes.” [Footnote:  Story]

Till 1873 the salary of the president was $25,000 a year.  It was then raised to $50,000 a year.  He also has the use of the White House, which is furnished at national expense; and special appropriations are frequently made to cover special expenses.  And yet few presidents have been able to save anything out of their salaries.

The vice-president receives $8000 a year.

Clause 8.—­Oath of Office.